New DNA evidence is rewriting the history of cat domestication, revealing that our furry companions chose to live with us much later—and in a different place—than scientists long believed.
The prevailing theory held that cats first bonded with humans around 10,000 years ago in the Levant, drawn to the rodents in our first farming villages. However, a groundbreaking genetic analysis of archaeological cat bones tells a different story.
According to the study, the pivotal shift from wild hunter to pampered pet began only 3,500 to 4,000 years ago in northern Africa, not the Levant.
“This relationship we have with cats now only gets started about 3.5 or 4,000 years ago, rather than 10,000 years ago,” said Prof Greger Larson of the University of Oxford. “It looks like it is much more of an Egyptian phenomenon.”
This new timeline aligns perfectly with ancient Egyptian society, which famously revered cats, immortalizing them in art and mummifying them. From this North African hub, cats were then transported by humans across the globe. They reached Europe with the Romans around 2,000 years ago and later traveled east along the Silk Road.
In a fascinating parallel discovery, the research also uncovered evidence of a separate, ancient relationship in China. A different species—the leopard cat—lived commensally with humans there for over 3,000 years. However, these wild cats never became domesticated; they simply coexisted with people as natural pest controllers before domestic cats from the West eventually replaced them.
By James Kisoo
